Amcrest has wired and wireless, HD 720P or full HD 1080P, indoor and outdoor network cameras. Overall Amcrest cameras have very good build quality. However, their choices are more limited compared with D-Link, Foscam and Wansview.

Amcrest cameras are mostly compatible with CameraFTP's cloud recording service. There is one minor issue: Amcrest records video clips in a proprietary video format of .DAV. The cloud recording feature works just fine, but .DAV video type cannot be played in CameraFTP Viewer or any popular video player such as Windows Media Player or VLC Player. You must install Amcrest Smart Player, and download the recorded footage to your local PC to play the video clips.

The above problem can be solved if you use image recording instead of video recording. As you probably know, image recording is not much different from video recording. The recorded images can be played like video with lower frames per second and no audio support (most ourdoor cameras don't support audio recording anyway).

If you want .MP4 video support, you can use a PC running CameraFTP VSS. CameraFTP VSS can connect to the video stream and record .MP4 video clips to the cloud. If you don't want to use a PC, then you might want to order a Wansview, Foscam or D-link camera.

Amcrest IP2M-842 ProHD 1080P WiFi Camera

Amcrest IP2M-844E ProHD 1080P POE Dome

Amcrest IPM-721 HD 720P PTZ WiFi Camera

Basic camera information

Video / image resolution

1280x720, 640x360, 1920x1080

Audio recording

Supported (for indoor models)

Image upload frequency

1 image/s to 1 image/5000s

Video frame rate

1,2,3,...,30 fps

Night-vision

Indoor cameras up to 24 feet. Outdoor 98ft

Image snapshot recording

Supported

Video clip recording

Supported.

Motion detection

Supported for both image and video clip based recording

Continuous recording

Supported.

Supported video format

.DAV (Proprietary format that requires Amcrest's own Smart Player)

Connection type

Camera dependent, some supports Wi-Fi and Ethernet cable

PoE (Power on Ethernet)

Some outdoor models

Indoor / outdoor

Both indoor and outdoor models

Lowest pricing (as of 7/11/2016)

From $74.99

Note: This document is not designed to
replace the product manual from the manufacturer. The information provided is
based on our knowledge of the model Amcrest IPM-721S and IPM-721B.
It may not be accurate or completely up-to-date. Users shall contact the
manufacturer for all camera-related issues and contact us only for
CameraFTP-related (cloud service / FTP) issues.

Most of the setup steps below are camera
related and are very trivial. If you have finished these basic steps before,
then you can skip Steps 1 and 2.

There are 2 or 3 ways to connect the IP
camera to the Wi-Fi network. Please read the product manual for detailed instructions.

(1) Connect the camera with the
router using an Ethernet cable first. You can configure the Wi-Fi settings in
the camera's configuration pages later.

(2) If your Wi-Fi
access point/router supports WPS and the camera model supports WPS, then it is very easy to connect your device
to the wi-fi network:

Turn on the
camera and press the WPS button on your Wi-Fi access point (router) for 3
seconds; the WPS button will usually start flashing. Next, quickly press the
WPS button on your camera (sometimes you need to hold for about 6 seconds). In about 1 minute, you will see the status/network light change, indicating it is connected
to the wireless router.

Please refer to the manufacturer’s manual for more detailed information. Usually you will run the included IP Camera Search Tool to find the camera. If your computer
does not have a DVD/CD drive, then you can use CameraFTP VSS software or CameraFTP Camera Configuration Tool to find the camera's IP address (without using other cloud recording features).

If your camera
is connected to the Wi-Fi router, or if you have connected the camera with a
router using an Ethernet cable, you can run the manufacturer’s setup program to
find the camera’s IP address. From a PC in the same
network, insert the camera’s software CD. Browse the content of the CD and run
IPCamSetup.exe, it will install the necessary software for the camera. After it
is finished, run the installed IP Camera Tool and it will launch a tool to
detect Amcrest cameras.

If you don't have the manufacturer's software or if you don't have a CD/DVD drive, you can use CameraFTP VSS software to find the camera's IP address:

Amcrest cameras use two separate IP addresses for wi-fi and wired connections. After you switch to wi-fi network, if you disconnect the network cable, you need to search the camera again to find the new IP address.

Once you've found the camera's IP address, you can open Microsoft Internet Explorer or Firefox to access the camera's configuration site by entering the following URL: (Please don't use Chrome or Edge)
http://IP_ADDRESS/

It will open the logon screen as shown below:

The default username is: admin, the password is admin. You will be required to change the password when log in for the first time.

You will also need to install the ActiveX/Plug-in:

Install the ActiveX and After logon, you will see the live view screen:

With CameraFTP’s service, most regular setup steps are not required. (You can check
the basic setup steps to see if you need to configure non-CameraFTP related settings.

Click Storage --> Destination --> FTP, you can see the screen as follows. If you don’t have an account on
CameraFTP, please visit www.cameraftp.com and
sign up a free trial account. CameraFTP offers 3-day free trial. After that, you need to order a subscription to continue using the service.

Assuming you already have a CameraFTP Account, then you need to enter the following info:

FTP Server: ftp.cameraftp.com or 66.220.9.45

Port: 21

Username and Password:

The username is the same as your cameraftp.com username. The password is the camera license key. Please make sure to add a camera on www.CameraFTP.com website, and you can find the camera license there. For quick testing, you can also use your CameraFTP password.

Note:
In the above screenshot, “Amcrest” is the Remote Directory/Folder Name, which is the
same as the camera name that you created on www.CameraFTP.com website
when you added a new camera.

Click Save to save the settings. After that, you need to configure the storage
destination for FTP. Click Storage --> Destination --> Path as shown below:

Check the FTP option as shown above for "Scheduled" (continuous) and "Motion Detect".

If you ordered a video plan, then you can click Camera --> Video --> Video
as shown below. (Otherwise, you only need to configure the video size.) Usually you
only need to configure the Main Stream Video Settings.

Select the Code-Stream Type to Motion if you ordered a motion recording plan; select General if you ordered a continuous recording plan. Encode Mode is better to be H.264 (i.e. Mainline. But H.264B (baseline) and H.264H (highline) probably are also fine.)

The resolution and frame rate should be based on the plan you subscribed to. If you use Wi-Fi connection and if you have multiple HD cameras, it is recommended to set the frame rate to 2-5 fps. Otherwise, your wi-fi network could become too slow.

Frame Interval is usually set to be 2 - 4 times of the frame rate, but not less than 5;

The Bit Rate is a little tricky. Setting it too high will use too much bandwidth,
thus dramatically slow down your network, causing failed uploads; setting it
too low will affect the video quality. You can use our bandwidth calculator to
estimate the bandwidth. Visit www.cameraftp.com,
click Pricing, and then customize a service plan. See the screenshot below.

Note for estimating the bandwidth, the number of cameras should be set to 1.

For the video plan of 1280x720, 3 frames/s, the estimated bandwidth is 495Kbps.

If you ordered an image plan, then you only need to select the
correct video resolution. The resolution of the image snapshots will be the
same as the Main Stream video.

Check "Enable. If you ordered a video recording plan, then check "Record"; otherwise, check "Snapshot". Please do not check both; otherwise you will need two camera licenses.
You also need to click Schedule "Setup" button to select a motion detection schedule. Usually you will select all times as shown below:

Lastly, you must set a motion detection area. This is very important. If it is not set, then motion-triggered recording will not work!
Click Detection Area "Setup" button, it will display:

Please read the detailed instructions in the screenshot. If motion recording does not work, make sure you verify this has been set correctly. Click Save to save the settings.

You can disconnect the Ethernet cable if
you want to use Wi-Fi. If you need to make changes, you can run the setup
program again to find the camera’s IP address (as it may change with DHCP), and
then access the camera’s Configuration pages.

After your camera is setup, you can
visit www.cameraftp.com to live monitor
or play back your recorded footage from anywhere. You can also download
CameraFTP Viewer App for iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

Note: Amcrest cameras upload video clips in .DAV format, which is a proprietary format incompatible with most of video players. CameraFTP browser based viewer and mobile viewer apps cannot play it. Uploading image snapshots will be a better choice.
To upload video clips, you can use CameraFTP VSS on a PC. These cameras are compatible with VSS-based Live View, Cloud Recording and Local Recording.
If you use VSS for video recording, it is important to set the correct video size, frame rate and bit rate in Video Profile Settings.

Security cameras, also known as surveillance cameras, are used to monitor homes, businesses, and other types of properties.
Typically, they are connected to a recording device such as a tape recorder or a disk.
In the last few years, IP-based security cameras have become increasingly popular.
Security cameras enable you to remotely monitor a scene and play back recorded images.

Analog Closed-Circuit Television cameras record pictures or videos as analog signals.
Most of old surveillance cameras are analog cameras. This type of camera records directly onto a video tape recorder.
In order to save recordings to a PC,
the analog signal must be converted to a digital format; this can be done with a video capture card.

Digital CCTV cameras directly capture images and videos as digital signals. The signals are compressed and encoded into a
standard video format such as MPEG.
Digital CCTV cameras usually record videos onto a hard drive or a storage server.

A DVR (Digital Video Recorder) security camera system or a NVR surveillance system is basically a series of security cameras connected to a monitor and recording system.
Most (old) DVR/NVR security camera systems are CCTV-based with the cameras connected to the recording system via video cables. A multi-channel DVR/NVR security camera
system is dramatically more expensive than a regular IP camera; DVR/NVR security camera systems from different vendors require different cameras.
Using IP-based network cameras, you don't need a DVR/NVR security camera system as each network camera can connect to the cloud directly.

An Internet Protocol camera or network camera is a type of digital video camera that can send and receive data via a computer network.
This type of camera has become increasingly popular among
homeowners and business owners in the last few years because of steep price drop. A webcam can also be considered as a network camera because it can
send or receive data via a computer.

Security cameras themselves are not completely secure. They can fail due to dust, smoke, fog, loss of power, or damage.
They are also easily susceptible to tampering.
If a security camera records data onsite, both the camera and the recorded data can be destroyed – by intruders, burglars, or anyone else who wants the data gone forever.

Many security cameras now support motion detection - a technology that triggers recording only when something changes in the scene.
Motion can be detected by image changes or sound changes. Many security cameras can only detect image changes.
As minor scene changes can occur due to events such as natural light changes or wind changes,
many security cameras allow you to configure a “threshold”. By setting a higher threshold,
minor scene changes will be ignored and only scene changes that reach the “threshold” will be recorded.
Motion detection is very useful if you want to significantly reduce bandwidth and storage usage.

One of the main usages of a security camera is to monitor night-time scenes. If the scene is not well lit,
it is recommended that you use a camera with night vision capability.
Those cameras use an infrared spectrum of light at night and can take pictures of objects in the dark.

Wireless security cameras transmit video and audio signals wirelessly to a receiving device.
There are analog and digital types of wireless cameras. Digital security cameras have become much more popular recently because they can be accessed over the Internet.

FTP/SMTP cameras are a type of IP cameras that can upload recorded image/video files to an FTP/email server.
Almost all IP cameras support FTP/SMTP uploading.
FTP offsite storage is the most popular way of storing image/video files from a security camera/DVR.

All security cameras are video cameras. Most security cameras support real-time monitoring / live streaming
via a web browser within the same network.
From the Internet, it requires more complicated network configuration. Some security cameras can store video files to a network file server within the same network.
Almost all security cameras can upload image snapshots to an FTP/SMTP server; some cameras can also upload video clips to an FTP/SMTP server.
CameraFTP supports video recording if your camera supports it.

Most DVR/NVR security camera systems can store recorded images and videos to a tape, hard drive,
or onsite storage server. However, storing data in this manner leaves it susceptible to tampering and damage by intruders.
For better protection and security, offsite storage is the best solution.

The required amount of storage is dependent on your camera’s image resolution, frame rate,
compression ratio and days of retention. Setting up your camera to use motion detection can significantly reduce storage usage.

Security cameras can generate a large amount of data. The amount depends on the compression ratio,
images captured per second, and image size. Most cameras provide a limited amount of storage space; therefore,
recordings are usually kept for a preset amount of time before being overwritten by new images.

While the resolutions of still image cameras can go as high as 10 million pixels, for a video surveillance camera, the standard resolution is
lower. The main reason probably is because of storage and bandwidth requirement. The higher the resolution,
the more storage space and the more bandwidth it requires. If you set the resolution to higher than 1280x720 and if you have multiple cameras,
you might run out of upload bandwidth if you use ADSL or Cable Modem connections.

Offsite recording addresses one of the biggest vulnerabilities of a security camera.
Instead of storing recorded data onsite, recorded images are uploaded to Camera FTP server in real-time. Even if an intruder destroys a security camera,
he cannot destroy the recorded data, which can be very helpful for tracking down the intruder.

Once a security camera uploads the recorded image/video files to Camera FTP server,
you can play back the recorded footage from anywhere using CameraFTP’s Viewer App.
The Camera Viewer feature is available for PC, MAC, tablet and smart phone.

Camera FTP supports real-time viewing (live streaming) of a scene using the Camera Viewer feature. Many IP cameras can support live viewing; however,
such feature usually only works at the same location and only supports few connections.
With Camera FTP service, you can view images/videos over the
Internet from anywhere using any device.
It also allows many people to live stream the video concurrently.

CameraFTP offers a revolutionary security and monitoring service for home and business users.
Compared with traditional security services, it has a lot of advantages.
It is extremely easy to setup, does not require any expensive hardware, requires no professional installation, and the cost is extremely low.
Moreover, it is more secure than regular security services as it supports Cloud Recording and Playback.

CameraFTP has many advantages over other security and surveillance services.
You can compare features and prices with other security services. It is also better than using regular
FTP/email service (such as Gmail, Outlook, Dropbox) for security camera storage.